Professional Associations

ASPA—The American Society for Public Administration
APPAM—Association for Public Policy Analysis and
   Management
GovLoop (a social network developed by and for the
   government community)
ICMA—International City/County Management
   Association

Research Institutes and Government Research Agencies

Most of these organizations produce policy analyses and reports that are publicly available, on a wide variety of topics. A few are focused on particular areas (PPIC studies California policy issues and RFF focuses on the environment, for example). Note that some of these groups have an avowed ideological position. We are offering a list that includes liberal, conservative, and non-partisan organizations.

Abt Associates
AEI—American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
The Cato Institute
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
The Brookings Institution
California Legislative Analyst's Office (non-partisan state
   office that produces analysis for the state legislature)
Government Accountability Office (non-partisan federal
   agency that produces analysis on multiple federal 
   issues and programs).
Institute for Local Government (ILG)
Institute for Research on Poverty
   (University of Wisconsin)
The RAND Corporation
Public Policy Institute of California
The Heritage Foundation
Reason Foundation: UrbanFutures.org
Resources for the Future
The Urban Institute
The World Bank (data and research site of the Bank)

State of California—Governmental Resources

Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley (Links
   to multiple resources on California government and
   policy)

U.S. Government—Laws and Regulations

Regulations.gov
Federal Register (GPO Access)
Code of Federal Regulations (hosted by Cornell Law School)
Code of Federal Regulations (GPO Access)
Supreme Court Cases (hosted by Cornell Law School)
THOMAS (Library of Congress) (text of federal legislation
   and proposed legislation)

U.S. Government—Agencies

USA.gov (central portal to U.S. government agencies)